Rosslyn, Va.–based office catering startup continues to grow, with plans to expand into more markets next year.

HUNGRY started 2018 with $1.5 million in revenue, bringing its seed funding round to $4.5 million raised. The office catering startup began serving the District in January 2017 and has since acquired Philly-based Local Stove in August 2018, breaking into another market. With all of this growth, the company said it is at a $6 million revenue run rate this month to conclude its 2018 earnings, showing 500 percent growth in revenue this year.

With a satisfaction rate of 99 percent according to the company, how is this unique catering startup that provides a marketplace where businesses can order directly from chefs who run a business apart from a restaurant growing so rapidly?

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With a team of less than 30 people, including six new hires for its Philly office, HUNGRY has attributed its growth to three main reasons. First, the company said it has tripled its customer base to over 400 corporate accounts including Amazon, E-Trade, Microsoft, WeWork, Rosetta Stone and more since the beginning of the year. Another reason is because HUNGRY’s core customer base has increased its spending with HUNGRY by 110 percent this year, with 95 percent of its customers using its services repeatedly. Lastly, the company has grown because of its expansions into D.C. and Philly. HUNGRY said the Philly-based office will be profitable in the first quarter of 2019.

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“The coming year will be explosive for HUNGRY. We’re bringing in an amazing syndicate of partners and investors that will help catapult HUNGRY into many new cities and further strengthen our chef network in 2019,” HUNGRY’s COO Eman Pahlevani told Technical.ly.

HUNGRY curates an online marketplace that connects independent chefs directly with the catering market. The company was founded on the belief that employees deserve better food that better matches their tastes and preferences, and chefs deserve greater economic opportunity, recognition and culinary freedom.

HUNGRY currently has a portfolio of more than 70 chefs using its platform with an average annual income of the top six chefs being over six figures. The company said its platform saves companies an average of 33 percent over traditional caterers, while helping its chefs earn three to 10 times more per hour than standard culinary jobs, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics statistic that states the industry average for a chef is $22 an hour. Chefs on the HUNGRY platform make approximately $75 to $150 an hour. Furthermore, the average cost of a catered meal in D.C. is $16 versus $12 with HUNGRY.

Andrea Riggs, HUNGRY Marketing & PR representative, said the company has plans to make new hires at its headquarters, D.C. office and in local markets in 2019. In the coming year, the company said it will launch into at least five new markets, further refine its ordering and delivery logistics platform and continue to grow and curate its network of independent chefs.